<p>I definitely agree with UVA’s reasoning that ED is only benefitial to the rich kids. Take my school for example. There are a great deal of kids who need substantial FA. I know many of the kids want to attend specific schools but over 25 kids applied ED to Columbia. Supposidly Columbia has a program where if your parents make under 60k a year you are gaurenteed a full ride. It is unfair because for some kids a certain school could be their top choice but they can not apply ED in fear that they don’t recieve enough FA.</p>
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<p>Indeed Dean J; I so stated that publics should not offer ED.</p>
<p>I applaud UVA for having the courage to reverse course on its early admission program. The college application landscape is constantly changing and applicants are expressing interest in early admission programs in record numbers. I think many of the complaints about early admission programs in the past have been or are being mitigated due to greater accessibility to information and understanding of the admission process. So long as the schools can meet their objectives regarding access and diversity, I think they should be free to use whatever methods they feel comfortable with, despite the protestations of do-gooders that want to make everything “fair.”</p>
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<p>Or to non-rich families who’ve actually saved for or otherwise budgeted for the costs of in-state college tuition, either by direct savings in 529 plans or by purchasing pre-paid tuition contracts, like VPEP. If you owned a VPEP contract, I guarantee you you’d like the leg-up that ED provides. </p>
<p>I’m not rich, I just sacrificed for years to save for my child’s college education, despite times I had to wrap loose change to buy food. Of course, the way the system works, there’s no aid for people that have actually saved. (Other than “aid” like what Williams offered, a loan of $40K a year - gee, thanks.) </p>
<p>Frankly, a little tired of being called “rich” as though it were an insult, simply because we took the responsibility to provide a college education for our kid seriously. I know too many people who had family income twice what mind was, that bought houses 4x what mine cost, , leased their BMW’s and Mercedes SUV’s and got new ones every 3 years, who didn’t save a thin dime for their kids’ education, now crying about how they can’t afford tuition. </p>
<p>I know too many families like myself who <em>did</em> save, who <em>did</em> sacrifice, and who don’t really appreciate people talking about them as though they were born with silver spoons in their mouths …</p>
<p>My daughter is thinking of EA to UVA and Univ. of Mich and ED 1 to bowdoin and ED2 to Vassar. can she apply EA to more than one school and then apply ED to another? Thanks</p>
<p>Georgetown has a rule that if you apply EA to them, you cannot apply ED to anyone else. You can apply EA to other colleges. I think that is a logical policy.</p>
<p>I think EA is a good option if it is reasonable administered and not just a means managing the schools appearance of selectivity. I’ll be interested to see how much this increases UVA’s applicant count, how low it move their acceptance percentage and what kind of disparity exist between their EA pool and their RD pool. Bet this last statistic will not be easily found.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that UNC and Georgetown defer many very accomplished students and only accept the very, very top applicants in their EA pools. So, for a large majority of outstanding students, EA will not give the piece of mind of an early acceptance. Does anyone know of any statistics for deferrals in an EA programs at these schools? All I remember reading was comments by AdComs that the pools and acceptance percentages are approximately the same…not sure I believe that!</p>
<p>UVA would add an EA program to their application process after I applied this past year and was waitlisted from OOS…it was my first choice!</p>
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<p>[Georgetown</a> University- Office of Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://uadmissions.georgetown.edu/applying_firstyear_sdprofile.cfm]Georgetown”>http://uadmissions.georgetown.edu/applying_firstyear_sdprofile.cfm)</p>
<p>Squiddy:</p>
<p>I agree with everything you said. I wish I had been born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and I think that most people that deny they would also have liked it are… being untruthful?</p>
<p>My son wasn’t born with one either, but I sure hope his descendants will.</p>
<p>Thanks standrews…well it’s nice to see that Georgetown’s admission % seems to line up between the EA and RD, but I didn’t see how many were initially deferred. Do you think the breakdown is based on when the decision was made or when the apps were received? I’m guessing it’s when the apps were received. At least this speaks to some consistency in their review process.</p>
<p>While Early Decision can certainly be problematic for many families, especially cost-conscious middle-class families who will qualify for little or no need-based aid, it actually can be a big plus for SOME candidates with financial need.</p>
<p>ED does offer an admissions-odd boost (often a big one) which means that most students have a better chance of being admitted via the ED round than during the Regular Decision round. If these students are applying to colleges that meet 100% of need, then ED can be a wise choice, even though it will eliminate the chance to compare aid offers in the spring. (If the student were to wait until the Regular Decision round, it’s possible that he or she might not be admitted to this college at all and could end up at a place with less generous aid.)</p>
<p>I’ve also seen from my own personal admissions experience that borderline candidates with substantial financial need may be admitted in the ED round to “need-conscious” colleges, yet, during Regular Decision deliberations, candidates who receive an identical numerical rating from admissions staff and who have similar financial need are pulled out of the “admit pile”–sometimes at the last minute–and replaced with slightly less strong applicants who have less need.</p>
<p>While, of course, there are drawbacks to ED and it does disadvantage many students, it’s unfair to vilify it across the board because it can be a big boon to others, including applicants with financial need. Thus, like so much else in this crazy process, there is lots of gray area.</p>
<p>To answer an earlier question, Early Action at UVa will be unrestricted. Obviously, if someone is admitted ED to another school, we’ll expect them to rescind their UVa application, as is the standard practice.</p>
<p>I have spoken with several students (we are in state), and they love the idea of UVA going with the early action. If they do get in, they will rejoiced. If not, they will have already applied to other schools and await those decisions. My youngest son is a HS freshman. He really does not have an interest in attending UVA, but perhaps that will change over time.</p>
<p>thank you sally, for posting what a (very) few of us have been posting been posting over the years; that which goes against common consensus.</p>
<p>I’m advising my brother on doing this as a plan, I believe that applying half EA is the future for many students that take the process seriously. It offers more time to investigate offers and can eliminate some of the other safety schools that you would apply to in the spring.</p>
<p>EA Chicago, EA UVA, EA Michigan(Ann Arbor) and possibly ED somewhere like Stanford.</p>
<p>I’m disappointed that I won’t get the opportunity to apply EA to UVA (why couldn’t they have switched it to this year? haha) </p>
<p>I generally prefer EA because it artificially sets a timeline in my head; get that application done, and get it done ASAP, instead of procrastinating and thinking that I have all the time in the world. I only have one “EA” application, but it would be nice if some of my other schools would institute EA.</p>
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<p>Just a quick heads-up on this: Stanford currently does not offer ED. Their option is Single Choice Early Action, which means that students who elect this choice cannot apply to ANY other “Early” program (not Early Decision OR Early Action).</p>
<p>I’m all for ED. It provides higher acceptance rates for people who are absolutely certain that they’re into a certain college. Better than that, it helps students who are accepted have an entirely stress free year after acceptances are in. (This is part of the reason I’m so hopeful that I’ll get accepted to my ED school.) Because you can’t apply anywhere else, you don’t have to worry about it!</p>
<p>I really don’t think that the early decision process is unfair to disadvantaged students who don’t get college advising, etc. I have never had ANY help with college admissions from any adviser or anyone at my school. (I had to explain to my counselor how to do my recommendation.) Nevertheless, I have access to a computer (which, i would assume very nearly all applicants must) and I googled my school, did a bit of research, found out about ED, and applied. If you have computer access and care enough about a school, you have the same shot at making an ED deadline as any other applicant.
The only beef I have with ED is that people can’t compare financial aid packages. However, most ED programs will release you from binding admission if your financial aid doesn’t come through. </p>
<p>I think it would be interesting to see a school that offers both early decision and early action.</p>
<p>Coming from an OOS’er who thinks everyday about the possibility of having the slightest chance of getting into UVA, it is frustrating seeing many of my peers being able to apply ED to their first choice schools. I feel that compromises could be made in the system (everywhere) to make it possible to obtain financial aid despite applying ED. Although the new EA option is a step forward, there are schools higher-ranked than UVA that are able to thrive off of their ED applicants, and I wish UVA could have stayed that route as I apply for fall 2011 admission.</p>